CHAPTER XVIII.LADY
THIENG, THE HEAD WIFE AND SUPERINTENDENT OF THE ROYAL CUISINE.

LADY
THIENG was a woman of about thirty, fair even to whiteness, with jet
black hair and eyes; by nature enthusiastic, clever, and kind, but
only partially educated when compared to many other of the cultivated
and intellectual women of the royal harem.

She
was the first mother, — having brought his Majesty four sons and
eight daughters, — for which reason she was regarded with peculiar
veneration and ranked as the head wife in the palace, the queen
consort being dead All these considerations combined entitled her to
the lucrative and responsible position of superintendent of the royal
cuisine.

She
contrived to be always in favor with the king, simply because she was
the only woman among all that vast throng who really loved him;
though at no period of her life had she ever enjoyed the unenviable
distinction of being the "favorite."

Her
natural enthusiasm and kindliness of disposition made her generally
loved, however; while, despite her immense wealth and influence, no
woman's life had a truer and deeper purpose. She was always ready to
sympathize with and help her suffering sisters, whatever their
shortcomings might have been, or whatever the means she was obliged
to resort to in order to render them the smallest assistance.

She
reconciled all her little plots, intrigues, and deceptions to herself
by saying: "Surely it is better for him not to know everything;
he knows too much already, what with his Siamese and his English and
his Pali and his Sanscrit. I wonder he can ever get to sleep at all
with so many different tongues in his head."

It
was after school that I accompanied one of my most promising pupils,
the Princess Somawati, one of Thieng's daughters, to her mother's
house. Being the head of the royal cuisine, Thieng had two houses.
One was her home, where her children were born and brought up, — a
quaint, stately edifice with stuccoed fronts, situated in the ladies'
or fashionable part of the inner city, and in the midst of a pleasant
garden. In the other, adjoining the royal kitchen, she spent the
greater part of each day in selecting, overlooking, and sometimes
preparing with her own fair hands many of the costly dainties that
were destined to grace the royal table.

Thieng
received me with her usual bright, pleasant smile and hearty embrace;
to give me the latter, she put down her youngest baby, a boy about
two years old, to whom I had, during my repeated visits to her house,
taught a number of little English rhymes and sentences, and who
always accosted me with, "Mam, mam, how do do?" or "Mam,
make a bow, make a bow"; while he bobbed his own little head,
and blinked his bright eyes at me, to the infinite delight of his
mother and her handmaids.

Little
"Chai" settled himself in my lap, as usual, and the host of
women, like children eager to be amused, gathered around to listen to
our baby-talk; and great was the general uproar when Chai would mimic
me in singing scraps of baby-songs, or thrust an orange into my
mouth, or put on my hat and cloak to promenade the chamber, and say
"How do do?" like a veritable Englishman; then his fond
mother, in ecstasies of joy, would snatch him to her arms and cover
him with kisses, and the delighted spectators would whisper that that
boy was as clever as his father, and must surely come to the throne
some day or other.

In
the midst of these fascinating employments one of the Lady-physicians
was announced.

Thieng
retired at once with her into an inner chamber, carrying her beloved
Chai in her arms, and beckoning me to follow her. Here she consigned
Chai to me for further instruction in English, and laid herself down
to be shampooed.

I
felt that now was my opportunity; but I waited a little in order to
make sure whether the doctor was to be trusted

The
ladies were silent for a little while; no word was spoken, with the
exception of a sigh that now and then escaped from poor Thieng,
partly to indicate the responsibilities of her position, and partly
to show that the particular number which was being manipulated was
the one most affected. Whatever might have been the question between
the ladies, the doctor waited for Thieng to give the word, and Thieng
evidently waited for the termination of my visit. But seeing that I
made no attempt to go, she at length turned to the doctor, and said:
"My pen arai, phöt thöe, yai kluâ" (Never mind, speak
out, don't be afraid), all of which I understood as perfectly as I
did English.

The
doctor ceased her manipulations, and, after having cast a cautious
glance round the room and shaken her head sorrowfully, remarked: "I
don't think she'll live many weeks Longer."

"It
were better to put her to death at once than to kill her by inches,
as they are now doing."

"P'hra
Buddh the Chow,2
help us!" cried Thieng, still more agitated. "What shall I
do? What can I do to save her?"

"Something
must be done, and at once," replied the doctor, suggestively.

"Well,"
said Thieng, "why don't you draw up a paper and give it to Mai
Ying Thaphan?" (the chief of the Amazons.) "And now mind
that you say she cannot live a day longer unless she is removed from
that close cell and allowed to take an airing every day."

"Poor
child! poor child!" repeated Thieng, tenderly, to herself. "With
such a noble heart to perish in such a way! I wish I could find some
means to help her to live a little longer, till things begin to look
more bright."

"He
has forgotten all about her by this time," rejoined the doctor.

The
physician then took her leave of Thieng, and I inquired if they had
been speaking of the Princess Sunartha Vismita. The good lady started
and looked at me as if she supposed me to be supernaturally endowed
with the art of unravelling mysteries.

"Why!
how do you know the name," said she, "when we never even
mentioned it?"

I
then told her of the visit I had had from May-Peâh, and begged of
her to help me to deliver the letter to the dying princess as soon as
possible.

"We
are all prisoners here, dear friend," said Thieng, "and we
have to be very careful what we do; but if you promise never to say a
word on this subject to any one, and in case of discovery to bear all
the blame, whatever that may be, yourself, I'll help you."

I
gave her the required promise gladly, and thanked her warmly at the
same time.

"You
must not think me weak and selfish, dear mam," said she, after a
little reflection. "You are a foreigner, he has not the same
power over you, and you can go away whenever you like; but we who are
his subjects must stay here and suffer his will and pleasure,
whatever happens."

With
that she told me to come to her after sunset, and I bade her a
grateful adieu and returned home.

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1
An ejaculation in frequent use among the Buddhists, and which means,
"dear Buddha," or "dear God."